How much are you guys spending on restoration?

[manny z]

ther has been a lot of good points that have been brought up. I think i might be able to bring up another good point. I personally wanted to build my car a certain way for a long time. Yes of course I have added a few more things, because, plainley I could afford them now.
Budget on my car, haha I blew that a long time ago. I figure I could afford to build it how I want to. I am not doing it to impress anyone but myself when it is done.

[214Chevy]

All I can say is you are not alone brother. I feel your pain. I am roughly $70K into my Chevelle and to me it doesn't look like the other guys cars who have spent a whole lot less. I have put on brakes only to change them out and buy something different. Bought suspensions, changed it. Bought wheels, didn't like them and sold them to buy another set. Bought rear ends, changed them. Just recently, last July of '08, I put in a TKO 600. Only put approx 150 miles on it. Just sold it and my big block and bought a T56 Magnum with an LS 6.0. Then to top it all off...my dumb ass just went and bought a '68 SWB C10 in December "08 and have already spent about $5k on it including the price of the truck with parts. Seriously, if I had all the money I've spent on cars and BS over the years my savings account would literally be at a balance of about $110k. I swear!! They say it's not good to swear, but I swear!!!! It's a good thing my wife knows nothing about cars. I buy something and she'll ask how much does it costs. I'll say $200, but it's about $1000. Or I'll sell something on ebay for chump change like $100 and I'll say I sold it for $900 to buy something else that's expensive. Hey!! I know I'm no better than a crackhead, heroin addict or alcoholic.

****PS, don't tell my wife. LOL!!

[Vegas69]

Dude you're busted....my ol knows your ol.

[Thumpt]

Rodger, I like your posts. No messin around.

I know down to the dollar (or pretty damn close) what I have in my car for a few reasons. I have an agreed value insurance policy and I like to increase that number the more money I put into the car, which I have been doing gradually over the past 2.5 years.

Like most I started with a budget ($50k LOL) and blew past that a loooong way back. But mostly because I kept adding and adding things I guess I had to have... minitub, 4 link, leather interior, hood hinges, yada yada yada.... about the only damn thing I didn't step up on was an aftermarket sub, which I know I don't need.

And I do not want a great paint job - I wanted driver quality paint only so I won't be any more worried about where I drive or park this car than I already am. This sumbitch is built to drive.


BTW, did anyone notice this thread was revived after being dead for over a year?


Great reading thought it might be time to revive this thread again.

[DBL NKL]

Originally Posted by Thumpt

BTW, did anyone notice this thread was revived after being dead for over a year?


Great reading thought it might be time to revive this thread again.

The thread that won;t die, and probably the only thread most old lady's will read when clicking on the wrong bookmark while we're gone for the day. (lol)

[Heartlandrods]

Roger is absolutely right in the replies that he has posted on here. We have built cars that were completely original restorations, and we have built half a million dollar supercars. It all comes down to what do you want, because the way that pro-touring customs are going today, the amount that you can spend especially if you get into one off parts and fabrication is endless. Here is a quick breakdown of really ballpark numbers that you can go by. This is based of of if you take it to a shop like mine that does everything in house and you don't do any of the work yourself. Ths is a full rotisserie restoration plus the custom work.

Completely original restoration of a 1969 Camaro...1000 labor hours x shop labor rate (ex. 1000 hours x $60/hr = $60,000)

-Plus parts...25k

-Plus the donor car

Even here this amount can go up if you need more parts to restore it properly or if the donor car is in need of a lot of metal work

Typical pro-touring 1969 Camaro (LS3/tremec five speed, DSE suspension)
-1500 labor hours x shop labor rate (ex. 1500 hours x $60/hr = $90,000)

-Plus parts...$50,000+

-Plus the donor car

-plus custom leather interior if wanted...$10,000+

If you do nicer parts, more fabrication or a nicer interior, the cost just goes up from here. These are just basic ballpark numbers to go by, but can give someone that has never had a car built a glimpse of what it takes moneywise.

Time schedule can vary according to how busy a shop is or how fast the customer is bringing the shop money. When I have a customer that stays current on paying, a typical pro-touring build will take 12-18 months. The longest we have ever taken was just under 2 years. We built the September feature C2ZR1 Corvette in ten months from start to finish, but that is rediculously fast for a build of that level. I hope this gives you guys some insight, but just as it has been said before in this thread....take your original budget and at least add 50% because just like building a house, you are going to add things and there will be suprises when the paint comes off your donor car! These things I promise!

Jeff Page
Heartland Customs
www.Heartlandcustoms.us

[Blake Foster]

Originally Posted by 509Chevelle

All I can say is you are not alone brother. I feel your pain. I am roughly $70K into my Chevelle and to me it doesn't look like the other guys cars who have spent a whole lot less. I have put on brakes only to change them out and buy something different. Bought suspensions, changed it. Bought wheels, didn't like them and sold them to buy another set. Bought rear ends, changed them. Just recently, last July of '08, I put in a TKO 600. Only put approx 150 miles on it. Just sold it and my big block and bought a T56 Magnum with an LS 6.0. Then to top it all off...my dumb ass just went and bought a '68 SWB C10 in December "08 and have already spent about $5k on it including the price of the truck with parts. Seriously, if I had all the money I've spent on cars and BS over the years my savings account would literally be at a balance of about $110k. I swear!! They say it's not good to swear, but I swear!!!! It's a good thing my wife knows nothing about cars. I buy something and she'll ask how much does it costs. I'll say $200, but it's about $1000. Or I'll sell something on ebay for chump change like $100 and I'll say I sold it for $900 to buy something else that's expensive. Hey!! I know I'm no better than a crackhead, heroin addict or alcoholic.

****PS, don't tell my wife. LOL!!

And there in lies one of the problems!!!
So many guys do this it is crazy. Hell I have ALWAYS done this. untill I built the Nova, take my Camaro drag race car (oh drag cars are the WORST!) it has had 3 different motors it is now getting its 4th transmission and is on its second rear end. Oh and 3rd paint job.... wait second set of wheels, 3rd front suspension, second interior lol WTF am I doing????
The nova on the other hand was built to do a job and i think it does it admirably, not the fastest car arround but it can hold it's own.but it will get NO changes. I did 90% of the work myself and without labor I think I have 65k into the car, including buying the car, that is probably cheap, I got a good deal on all the suspension and the rest of the parts I pulled some favors, but still it is on it's second motor cuz I didn't spend enough on the first one.
So if I added it up the camaro probably has over 150 in it and I am thinking of selling it for 18k, again WTF???
I try to stress to customers to START with a budget and work backwards from there. and DON"T CHANGE YOUR MIND OR ADD STUFF!!!
take 100k build and break it down backwards so to speak using the major parts motor trans body/paint wheels interior and TAXES what is left?
it doesn't matter how much these cars cost to build.... it come down to how much can you afford!!! like Rodger said you can have a BITCHIN Camaro for 2 million!!! If you don't have 2 million to spend it is kinda a non issue.

[kovert]

I would say 20g seems great for what you have described !! It can be done it depends on the quality of car you want . You want those nice details ?? Well details take time and time is money !! Keep it simple
I have a 67 nova that's only a roller and have over 20 in it in just parts I'm doing all the work and it's still expensive

[GregWeld]

20K?? Really?? That's my bill just for one month.....

[Vegas69]

Here's the real problem, it NEVER ends. If you actually drive the snot out of them, they use up and break stuff. Then there is chasing every last bit of performance. How about the tools needed to work on these babies? I was a GM tech and I've had to buy a slough of tools. Oh yeah, maintenence. An oil change costs me about $125 2-3 times a year. Brakes need blead out after most events with expensive fluid.

2nd set of wheels(3 piece I may add)
2nd engine(YOWSER that chapped my aise)
3rd set of front rotors(2nd set of wheels dictated and current are wore out)
2nd set of complete rear brakes(Brake Knockback)
Pile of brake pads(Performance Based)
2nd set of axles(Brake Knockback)
2nd set of springs all four corners(Performance)
2nd master cylinder(Knockback and wore out)
2nd clutch(See number 2)
Going on 3rd radiator
4th set of tires
2nd front sway bar
3rd change in oil plumbing
2nd set of tail lights
3rd or 4th front spoiler
2nd drive belt
2 rear sway bars(Neither are on the car)

Certainly not all by neccessity.

I sold a 2001 Corvette convertible for parts. It had about 16,000 miles on it and sold for 30k in 2007.

If I could go back to 2006 when I got this hair brained idea, here would be my advice to meeeself. Find the cleanest car in the right color with a good paint job and mod it WITHOUT doing a full resto. Building anything from scratch is EXPENSIVE. The good news, it's a better investment than many other things I've sunk my money into over the last 5 years. I've enjoyed the hell, and continue to enjoy the hell out of it. If I ever sell, I'll be OK with the loss.